by Robin Kemp
Photo: Fox 5 News. Used with permission.
8:04 p.m.: CORRECTION: Man struck on Mt. Zion Pkwy. per Chief Kevin Roberts
Clayton County Police are investigating after a man using a wheelchair was struck and killed around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday morning on Mt. Zion Parkway just before Mt. Zion Boulevard.
CCPD spokesman Ofc. Jordan Parrish said the victim died at the scene. The driver did stop and had not been charged nor taken into custody as of press time. A request for more details on the incident was pending a response from the TITAN unit at press time.
Chief Kevin Roberts said Tuesday evening that the man had been hit near the Arby’s. That is in the 2100 block of Mt. Zion Parkway.
A check of the area Tuesday evening where the man was struck and killed showed no right-of-way street lights and no crosswalks on Mt. Zion Parkway. (There is a crosswalk for pedestrians at Mt. Zion Boulevard that leads from the Steak and Shake to the Home Depot, just before the on-ramp to I-75.) However, the Arby’s light does illuminate the immediate area of the sidewalk, which has curb cuts across driveways at businesses along the block.
It’s not clear how the man was struck. Police have not said whether the man might have been traveling between one of the nearby motels and restaurants. Both the McDonalds and the Waffle House are open 24 hours. However, there’s no crosswalk from the motels to the restaurants on the other side. There are driveways that would allow a person in a wheelchair to cross Mt. Zion Parkway.
Georgia law says pedestrians have to wait for vehicles to pass, then cross safely–in which case, all vehicles have to stop for the pedestrian:
O.C.G.A. 40-6-92 (2010)
40-6-92. Crossing roadway elsewhere than at crosswalk
(a) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway unless he has already, and under safe conditions, entered the roadway.
(b) Any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway if he uses the roadway instead of such tunnel or crossing.
(c) Between adjacent intersections at which traffic-control signals are in operation, pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.
(d) No pedestrian shall cross a roadway intersection diagonally unless authorized by official traffic-control devices. When authorized to cross diagonally, pedestrians shall cross only in accordance with the official traffic-control devices pertaining to such crossing movements.
District 3 Commissioner Felicia Franklin, who has taken up pedestrian safety as her cause, said she had not been informed of the incident. The intersections in question are on the far eastern edge of District 4. We’ve asked Commissioner DeMont Davis for comment.
A camera crew from Fox 5 Atlanta was on the scene before sunrise and shot video of the wheelchair in the street.
Earlier information provided to The Clayton Crescent indicated that the man had been struck near Mt. Zion Parkway and Mt. Zion Road, just before Kaiser Permanente Southwood at 2400 Mt. Zion Parkway. An investigation of that area turned up no signs of any accident. It did, however, reveal a number of curb cuts across the difficult intersection, which has no crosswalks, no right of way lighting, and no pedestrian crossing signals. Note: the man in the wheelchair was not struck at this intersection:
Surrounding businesses have lights pointing towards their properties but there didn’t appear to be any right-of-way lighting.
